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Matt Riddle On His Laid-Back Demeanor, NXT Lifestyle & More

NXT Superstar and former UFC fighter Matt Riddle recently spoke with Byron Saxton for an interview for WWE's official website. Featured below are some of the highlights.

On where his laid-back demeanor and WWE character come from: "That's just exactly who I am. When I first started, I had a mullet and I was trying to play a hillbilly persona. While it was fun, it wasn't me. I decided the best move was just to be me and turn it up a little bit. I'm 100-percent me when I'm out there. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't even be getting paid because I'm just being myself all the time."

On what it's like to train at the WWE Performance Center now that he is a few months deep into the NXT lifestyle: "Dude, it's awesome. Before I got to NXT, I was lucky to get a couple days in a gym, let alone a ring. I was flying from Florida to Germany, Germany to England, England to Boston, Boston to California, then back to Pennsylvania where I'd sleep for a few days, and then be somewhere like Iowa or Indiana next. Now I get to train full-time and learn from the best coaches in the world. I went from doing push-ups on a wrestling mat in my house when I had spare time to training with the best of the best. It's a good feeling."

On a message to those watching him live the dream in the world of sports entertainment: "I wanna take over and change the game. If you don't know who I am, by the end of my match you will. By the end of my match, you'll be saying "Bro" just like everyone else around you."